Fate Distortion
by Lamia Angel of Death
Summary: In the wake of the destruction of her world, Julia Misty is mysteriously transported to Nosgoth. There she meets Raziel and the other Sarafan Sorcerer Priests. Can she change their fate? What of Raziel's? Can she save them? Rated M for violence and possibly love scenes later on. This is a Revamp of the Revamp of the Original.
1. The End of All Things

Legacy of Kain:

Fate Distortion

By: Lamia Angel of Death

Disclaimer: I do not own the Legacy of Kain Series. That belongs to Crystal Dynamics and Eidos. I do, however, own Julia. She is my own creation out of my own mind.

Summery: Julia Misty is mysteriously transported to Nosgoth. She meets up with Sarafan Raziel and they become real close. But what Raziel doesn't know is that she knows his fate. Can she change history before the time comes for Raziel's fate?

A/N: Well, this will certainly sound strange, but this is a revamp of the revamp I posted so long ago. I re-read what I already had and have deemed it atrocious. I began writing this story almost 8 years ago. Comparing it to how I write now, I noticed many inaccuracies and how very nondescript some of my stuff was. I cringed a few times reading the revamp and the original. So hopefully, this one will be much better...and be less...unsavory.

* * *

Chapter 1: The End of All Things

The woman's eyes opened suddenly, her mouth agape and gasping for air. When she realized she was alright, her breathing slowed.

_'Where am I?' _She pondered to herself.

She tried sitting up, only to feel a sharp pain pulse through her head.

She groaned, "Well...that was not such a good idea..."

She lay there for a moment, trying to assess where she was from her position on the ground. She tried moving her arms and hands slowly, running them over the surface beneath her.

_'Feels like stone...' _

She heard a sloshing sound as her hands skimmed over water beneath and beside her. She made an attempt again to sit up again, this time more carefully. She put her hand to her pulsating head, closing her soft blue eyes.

"What have you gotten yourself into Julia..." She whispered to herself.

After the pain had subsided, she opened her eyes and tried to assess her surroundings.

The first thing she saw was walls of stone which had been carved and hewn into ornate shapes and designs. She found herself marveling at the colors and the shapes. Inspecting them further from her position, she noticed some of the walls were covered in ornate shields and swords. Underneath these were mannequins that were dressed in suits of armor and beside that was a weapons rack with a myriad of swords, axes, pole-arms and many other weapons she might not be able to name.

"Did I fall into some...storage for medieval reenactment?" She said softly, rubbing her head. She ran her fingers through her raven black hair and pondered this for a moment.

"How did I get here in the first place..."

She crossed her arms and put her fingers to her temple, trying to recall the events leading up to her being here.

**-Hours Before-**

Julia sat at her work bench, wire in one hand and soldering iron in the other. Very slowly and very carefully she started to solder the wire onto a very tiny circuit board. When she was finished, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Finally...it's almost finished! Mr. Centre will be pleased!" She smiled, wiping the sweat from her forehead. She placed the circuit board inside a device that was partially covered by a cloth.

"Once I test this, I can begin the finishing touches, do debugging protocols and..." Her musings were cut short as her boss walked in.

"Ah! Mr. Centre! Just in time for you to hear my progress! I..."

Mr. Centre raised his hand, cutting her sentence short.

"Julia, I need to speak with you." Julia's smiling face became one of complete seriousness.

"Yes, sir?"

The man cleared his throat. "Julia, you've been with us for a very long time. You have been a valuable asset to this company..." Julia nodded as she listened and her face slowly became grim.

"What is it...sir?"

He sighed, frowning. "We have to let you go, Julia."

She frowned as well. "Why...sir?"

"The company had to make cuts in the employment. I'm sorry Ms. Misty, but your number has come up." He said grimly.

She sighed. "What...will I do? The company supplies my room and board, where will I go?"

"Don't you have any family? Or perhaps any friends who could help you?" He replied.

She frowned. "I don't sir. I have no family and my friends are gone." She put her fingers to her temple and began to rub them. She sighed sullenly.

"I'm sorry Julia. It was the decision of the higher-ups. I wish there was a way I could help, but I am having problems of my own as well." He said, looking at her sympathetically.

She shook her head. "It's alright sir...I understand..."

He walked up to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Everything will be alright dear. You'll figure something out. You're a smart one Julia; you invented a device that saved people's lives. I know you will be able to figure out a way to save your own."

She gave him a small smile. "Thank you sir..."

He nodded at her and began to leave the room.

"Oh..."

He stopped, turning around.

"And one more thing..."

He pointed to her covered up invention. "I am to _suggest _to you...to leave that device here." He said, putting emphasis on suggest. Her eyes lit up at his words and he winked at her before walking out.

When she saw he was gone, she gathered a few more items for her invention before taking the invention in question and smuggling it into her pack and left the building.

**-A little while later-**

Julia walked back to her home sullenly. She sighed. "Great...what am I going to do now?"

She pulled out her keys and unlocked the door to her sparsely decorated apartment. She set down her pack on the coffee table and sat down on her couch. She put her head between her hands, her hair flowing through the crevices of her fingers.

"What am I going to do...?" She said once more, frowning.

She looked up staring off at the wall in front of her. "I could always call an old friend...perhaps they can keep me for a few days..."

She picked up a circular disk and pressed a few buttons onto it. A hologram popped up and she began to point and press at certain points of this hologram. A ringing noise was emitted much like one would hear from a phone. After a time a voice replied and Julia began talking to this friend of hers for a while. After explaining her situation, the person on the other line agreed and they hung up. Julia made a few more phone calls and got her transportation set up.

She squeezed the device lightly, shutting it off. "Now all of that is done...now all I need to do is wait."

She got up from the couch and begun to pack what few things she had. When she got to the television, she observed her old gaming system, the PlayStation 2. She pressed the button on it, the lid popping open. In it lay Soul Reaver 2.

"Well hello there..." She said, kneeling down. "Why are you still in there?" She said, a wide smile coming to her face.

She looked at the time. "I won't be leaving until tomorrow..." She said, shutting the lid and pressing the button. "I guess I could play this for a while..." She said, pressing the button on the TV as well.

She took the controller and sat down on the couch. As she begun to play, she smiled happily. She decided to play from the beginning, reciting the opening sequence perfectly from memory.

Julia played the game for many hours until the got close to the ending. With ease she killed the Sarafan Sorcerer Priests one by one, barely getting hit. Not that it mattered since the Soul Reaver made Raziel immortal.

After systematically killing them one by one, she finally came to Raziel's former self. She sighed. "I don't want to kill you, but I will if I must. Return the heart to me and we can end this now..." She said, mimicking wraith Raziel's words. She sighed at their exchange.

"I don't really want to kill you...what could have happened...if you had just given him the heart? Or just not gone to Janos's Aerie..." She said quietly.

After their exchange was through, the battle begun. She attacked him with the Reaver like she had so many times before when she played this game. When she got him down to the last hit, when he knelt against his sword to keep him upright, blood pouring out of him, she stopped. She watched him.

"I...don't want to do it." She gripped the controller, her knuckles whitening. "You have more fight than this...get up..." As she said this, the human Raziel righted himself.

"That's it..."

She fought him a little longer until he was knelt down again. She paused once more, finding herself unable to kill him. "What's the matter Julia...you've done this before...why the pause?" She sighed. "I guess I feel sorry for him...damn you Crystal Dynamics for making such an immersive game!" She chuckled, watching him get back up again. Her stomach began to growl.

"I guess I better go get something to eat..." She looked up at the screen, watching Raziel advance on his future self. "Well...we shall finish this later love." She said, pausing the game and shutting off the console. She packed it up along with her stuff and decided to head out into town.

**-A little while later-**

Julia exited the local diner, stretching a bit. "That was a good meal..." She yawned. "I'm sleepy now...but that can wait until I get on the bus."

She started walking down the city streets. Several hover cars flew by, kicking up dust and random trash on the ground. She looked up, staring at the sky. "The city lights sure are pretty...but you can't even see the stars from here." She said to herself quietly.

She continued to walk down the street a ways until she came to an intersection. She saw the bridge which connected to another city a few miles away.

"...Maybe I can see the stars out there." She said, smiling.

She made her way across the bridge and stopped about halfway. The traffic was all but gone now as it began to be later at night. She looked to her left, observing the city she was going to see for the last time. She smiled, looking up into the sky.

"I can see the stars much better out here. But, not as clear as I'd like..."

She looked down, staring at the reflection in the river below her. She suddenly found herself thinking about Nosgoth, and what it might have been like there. She smirked. '_What am I thinking? That place doesn't exist...' _She sighed._ 'Then again...it couldn't hurt to dream...' _

She leaned against the bridge and brought out the circular disk once more. Issuing a few commands to it, a picture of human Raziel popped up. She stared at him a little but longer.

"Why is this on my mind?" She rubbed her forehead, chuckling softly. "I mean, I sure did have a crush on you when I was younger, but I thought I outgrew that..." She smirked. "I remember...I used to think about what it would be like to live in Nosgoth and to meet you in all your forms." She stroked the disk lovingly, still staring at the picture. "I even wondered...what it would have been like if you had not died the way you did..."

She sighed, rubbing her temple. "What am I saying? I sound like a crazy woman. No wonder I'm single..." She chuckled, turning off the device.

She stared off into the river for a while longer. "Well..I better head to the bus station..." She began to walk back to the city.

Suddenly, she felt the bridge shake. She furrowed her eyebrows a bit.

"The wind...?" She stuck her finger in her mouth and then put it to the air. "...No wind." She rubbed her chin, then continued to walk on.

Then it shook again, this time a bit more violently. "Whoa...WHOA!" She said, falling on her backside with a thump. "Now I really felt that!" She got up, using the railing to hoist herself upright. "I need to get off this bridge..."

She began to power walk back to the city, the ground producing tremors once more. "I need to find somewhere safe to go..."

She walked down the street, looking up to make sure no broken glass fell upon her head. People with the same idea in mind were trying to find some place to go.

Suddenly, she saw the asphalt and concrete start to crack before her and it made her stop in her tracks. Her eyes widened in confusion as the crack split open suddenly, a foul green light emitted from the crack. She backed up slowly, speechless.

The tremors began to happen with an increased frequency and some of the buildings began to sway around her. A rather huge crack popped up a ways down the street and her mouth was agape at the figures she saw coming forth from the hole in the ground.

"I-I-It can't be!" She rubbed her eyes and blinked, looking at the figures. "H-how is this...H-Hylden!?" She stepped back, hardly believing what is before her eyes.

Shortly after the Hylden came forth, demons followed them in their wake. People ran around the streets like crazy, trying to escape the foreign creatures. Buildings began to catch on fire around her and the tremors became stronger.

She looked around, trying to find an way to escape. She froze as a Hylden emerged from the crack next to her. It observed it's surroundings before it's eyes trained themselves on her. She stepped back, alarmed. It began to speak in an unfamiliar tongue and reach out it's clawed hand to her. She began to step backwards, nearly falling over in the process. When it's hand was nearly too her, she knocked it out of the way and took off running down the street.

As Julia ran, she heard the creature emit a loud battle cry after her. She glanced back and noticed it pointing to her. There were more creatures by it not and it issued orders to them, pointing at her. She tried her best to run faster as she could heard the roars and screeches of the creatures behind her.

A loud cracking sound could be heard and Julia glanced in the direction and looked up just in time to see the glass on one of the large buildings begin to crack. This is followed by the actual building cracking and this makes her pick up the pace.

'_Where am I going?' _She thought, _'They're going to get me!"_

She ran and ran until she found herself running towards the bridge she was at previously. She could hear the cries and screams of those around her as they were assaulted by earthquakes, flames and the frightening creatures that invaded their world. She tried her best to stifle back sobs and the tears that were beginning to emerge from her blue eyes. She was for the first time in her life truly frightened, but she kept running.

Julia felt the bridge sway and shake beneath her and it took all her might not to collapse to the ground. As she go about halfway down the bridge, she was suddenly sprayed with the river water. Against her better judgment, she looked in the direction it came from. What she saw next made her gasp and her eyes widened in awe.

A giant green, spiked tentacle had erupted from the river beside her the size of which dwarfed many of the city's buildings. More started to come out of the water and sway about. Some of them coiled themselves around the buildings of the city, crushing them. A booming, sinister sounding laughter could be heard echoing across the air, drowning out the sounds of despair and destruction.

Julia stopped running, exhausted. She looked for her pursuers behind her and noticed they did not follow her onto the bridge. One of the tentacles did, however, decide to crash into the edge of the bridge, severing it's connection to the city. Julia stumbled backwards, falling against one of the bridge's poles and wires.

"What is happening!?" She said, frightened.

Just as she said that, one of the tentacles descended onto the bridge beside her, putting the structure into severe upheaval. This was enough to knock Julia off, her body plummeting into the water below.

She found herself struggling for air as she floated to the bottom of the river. Debris of the city and bridge floated down along with her and she tried to swim her way back up.

'_I'm going to die here! No...not like this! Not when I have so much to do!' _She screamed inside her head.

She felt something grab onto her leg and start to pull her downwards. Alarmed, she glanced down and saw a much smaller tentacle wrapped around her leg and it began to pull her down. She struggled and tried to get loose, but this only tightened it's grip around her. As she got close to the bottom, she saw something she never thought she would see.

A giant eye stared back at her. "I seeeeee yooooouuu..." said a booming voice as the tentacle drew her close to the eye.

The shock of this sent Julia's mouth agape, expelling the last bit of air from her lungs. As she descended down to the eye, she began to lose consciousness. She heard it's laughter as her eyes closed and she was plunged into darkness.

**-Present Time-**

Julia sighed. "So...that's how it happened." She rubbed her temples. "Was this all just a dream?" She crossed her arms.

She continued to study the room around her, looking for some kind of clue as to where she was. Sighing, she stood up and tried wringing out her close. She looked to the ground and what she saw made her freeze mid squeeze.

"That...no...that can't be...?" She breathed out.

She stared at the familiar symbol on the ground, which looked like a sword with wings on it. Stumbling back a bit, she ran into the door. Grabbing the handle, she opened it carefully and walked out. Her eyes widened in awe as she took in her surroundings. And then it dawned on her.

"I'm...I'm in the Sarafan Stronghold!"

* * *

That's Chapter 1 folks. I hope you enjoyed this better than the original. I apologize for spelling or grammar errors. I will correct these as I see them. I am working on the revamp of the revamp of Chapter 2 soon!


	2. In Which Julia Discovers She can Fly

Legacy of Kain :

Fate Distortion

By: Lamia Angel of Death

Chapter 2: In which Julia discovers she can fly

* * *

Julia stood there, her mouth agape. "The Sarafan Stronghold...? How!?"

She walked up to one of the stained glass windows of a Sarafan Warrior depicted with white feathered wings. She touched the glass, marveling at the texture of it. She ran her fingers over the cool glass for a while longer before turning her attention to the stone walls. She ran her hand over the cold stone, feeling it's rough and bumpy texture. She knocked on the stone with the back of her knuckles and felt just how solid it was.

"Well...am I dreaming? Or am I really here...?" She whispered to herself, shrugging.

Suddenly Julia heard voices down the hallway and the creak of an opening door. She sprinted to the armory and quickly closed the door, locking it. Panicking, she grabbed the nearest suit of armor and began putting it on with great haste. She heard the jingle of keys and just as the door opened, she had put on the helmet.

A man clad in Sarafan armor stood in the doorway, hand still on the handle of the door.

"Hey you, rookie. What are you doing in here?" She heard him ask.

"Uhm..." She gulped.

"Well?"

She cleared her throat, and in her best man voice she said, "I...I..accidentally locked myself in here."

The Sarafan warrior just stood there for a moment. "Locked yourself...you dummy! The door locks from the inside, not the outside!" He gestured behind him. "Go on! Get on out of here!"

She nodded to him, grabbing one of the nearby swords and walking out. As she walked past him, she thought she heard him say something about how dumb the recruits have been lately.

Julia walked down the hallway and surveyed her surroundings. Quite a few Sarafan warriors traversed the stronghold doing their everyday rounds and business. She tried her best to fit in, saluting the ones that saluted her as she walked by, greeting the ones who greeted her. She walked the halls not completely lost, remembering how the layout of the stronghold was in the actual game.

"This place...is so huge! I never thought...I would ever get to see this!" She whispered to herself.

She continued to walk onwards until she found the door she was looking for.

"Yes! If I remember correctly, the stronghold's gate is behind that door there!" She said with much glee. As she approached the door, it swung open suddenly and another armored body walked straight into her and she lost her balance, falling on her armored backside.

"Ouch!" She rubbed her backside.

"Oh! I am sorry. Here, let me help you up." The voice that belonged to the man said.

She took his hand and stood upright, brushing himself off. She lifted her armored head and looked at the man she ran into and her jaw dropped.

"R-Raziel!?"

Raziel raised an eyebrow at her. "Have we met?"

She shook her head. "Uh n-no..." She cleared her throat, putting on her man voice again. "I mean, no. So sorry for bothering you!" She patted him on the shoulder and began to walk off, leaving a slightly dazed and confused Raziel in her wake.

Julia closed the door behind her, leaning against it for a moment.

"T-that...was Raziel. By the gods...I must be dreaming..." She looked at her hand. 'And I touched him too!' She shook her head. 'Now now Juli, stop acting like a fan girl.' She stood up and walked off, slowly approaching the gates.

"You there!"

She froze at the voice. "Y-yes?"

A guard walked up to her. "I've never seen you before", tapping on her armor, "And wearing last years garb too. Very suspicious."

Her mouth gaped behind the helmet. 'Make an excuse! Any excuse! I'm so close!' She chuckled nervously. "I'm...um...testing out this particular armor model so improvements can be made on the newer sets!"

The guard chuckled, "Ah a blacksmith I see!" He circled her, making her very nervous. "Is that so? Tell me, do you think you could fix this dent in my armor? Right now?"

She stammered her words out, "Erm I can't right now, I don't have my...uh..equipment." Her hand tightened around the hilt of her sword.

His armored head bobbed up and down. "I see. I see. So...why are you trying to leave the stronghold?"

"Why is it any of your business?" She replied, getting quite annoyed with his questioning.

"It's my business because I am here to make sure no one unsavory comes into this stronghold!" He replied, a hint of anger in his voice.

She sighed, tapping her foot like she was in a hurry. "Fine. I'm taking the armor out on a field test to find the problems with it."

The man nodded. "Fair enough." He gestured to the gate. "Get going."

She sighed, walking up the gate and waiting for him to open it.

"Oh...one more thing..." He said behind her.

She scowled. "What is i-" Her sentence was cut short as her helmet was taken off.

The man chuckled, grabbing her arm. "Your hair was sticking out. You are coming with me now."

She scrunched her face up in frustration and in an act defiance she whacked his helmet with the hilt of her sword, staggering him and making him let go of her arm. He pulled out his own sword.

"Oh? Feisty one aren't we?" He quipped, unsheathing his own sword.

She held up her own sword. It swayed about and shook at bit. "S-S-Stay back! I will defend myself!"

He only chuckled. "Oh? Is that so? I guess I will have to tire you out then!"

He sprinted towards her, swinging his sword. It arced in front of her as she dodged the blade with ease.

"Remember the self-defense classes Julia..." She whispered to herself. She swung her sword at him, missing by a long shot.

"Not very good with a blade are we? Let me show you how to properly use one!" The man said, running at her again.

She barely dodged it that time. 'He's fast!' She began to second guess herself and contemplated giving up. But she felt her stubborn streak well up inside her and she merely gripped the sword tighter. With a battle cry, she came at him again and finally landing a hit on one of his pauldrons, knocking him to the ground. She all but jumped for joy at her hit.

The man slowly picked himself up. "Not bad...for an untrained woman." He gripped his own sword, taking up a stance.

They circled each other for some time, their eyes trained on one another. Julia, in her hubris after landing a hit on him decided to charge at him once more and swung.

"Too slow!" He said, dodging it with ease.

Taking his own sword, he slashed it up and to the left. The sword cut through the armor like it was paper and a spray of blood arced through the air. Julia's eyes widened in surprise and the wind was knocked out of her. She fell backwards and onto the ground. She looked up at him, shaking with fear.

"Well, it seems I hit a little harder than I intended...no matter. You're coming with me no-"

His sentence was cut short as her helmet was thrown at his head and it ricocheted off. He staggered back a bit. After he regained his composure, all he could see was her raven black hair trailing ahead of the closing door.

Julia ran down the hallway as fast as she could. It took all her will power to ignore the growing pain in her chest and her right shoulder. The armor was barely hanging on now and was covered in her blood. A trail of it trickled behind her and she ran down the hallway. She wasn't sure if she could hear the man pursuing her.

She knew not where her body was leading her, only that she needed to escape. She paused for a moment and held herself up against the wall to catch her breath. She coughed, a bit of blood coming up and spraying onto the ground.

'Look at the mess you have gotten yourself...' She thought, wiping her mouth. She heard the previous door open behind her and she froze. 'Oh no...this is it...' She closed her eyes and got ready to bolt when she heard a familiar voice.

"Are you alright?"

She turned slightly, looking at Raziel. Her eyes widened at the realization and he seemed to be quite shocked that there was a woman wearing Sarafan armor in front of him.

"H-Hey! You're..."

Before he could finish his sentence, she heard the door at the other end of the hallway open and her pursuer came through. She pushed open the next door and bolted, leaving a bewildered Raziel in her wake.

"Who was that...?" He whispered to himself as the guard ran past him and through the door after her. He rubbed his chin and looked at the door they went through. After a moment of consideration, he followed after them, intrigued.

Julia kept on running until she reached a balcony. When she realized she hit a dead end, she started to freak out. Looking over the balcony, she saw the lake below. She went into further dismay when she found it was frozen.

"No...not now..." She said, hyperventilating.

She looked around for another way to escape, but saw none. She gave up hope until she saw something that gave her an idea. Two Sarafan flags lay on the ground along with a few nails and a hammer. The cogs began to turn in her head and she took off her armor gingerly, trying to avoid injuring herself further. Removing it made her blood trickle out a little faster.

"Must...hurry..." She huffed out, grabbing the items and then getting to work.

After a few moments, she haphazardly hammered the flags onto the back of the armor. With every stroke of the hammer, her injury ripped further up her shoulder and across her chest, making her cringe in pain. Trying her best to ignore it, she continued her work.

After a time she heard a commotion behind the door and quickly put her armor back on, hissing as the cold metal touched her skin. She felt a few of the unbent nails dig into her back and she tried to ignore that pain as well. She ripped a couple holes in the flags for her hands and looked out over the balcony. She climbed up it and stood on it's edge.

The door swung open and there stood the guard and Raziel in tow.

"You won't escape now intruder!" The guard said, drawing his sword.

Julia only smirked as she put her hands through the holes. "Here goes..." She jumped off of the balcony, the wind catching the flags and driving her upwards. She felt her wound open a little more and hissed. She floated across the lake.

"Is that woman mad!?" The guard said. "We must go after her!" He said as he saw her float across the lake and land on the other side.

Raziel held out a hand. "Let her go. She's out of our reach now."

The guard took off his helmet, growling. "No! We can still-"

Raziel grabbed his pauldron. "Dumah! Let. Her. Go."

Dumah scowled, pushing away Raziel's hand. "Fine." He headed towards the door and departed the room.

After Dumah left, Raziel look back over the the lake and saw Julia making her way across the snow. He rubbed his chin for a moment. Getting an idea, he left the balcony and decided to follow her into the snow.

Julia limped onward, trying to distance herself as far away from the stronghold as possible. Occasionally, she stopped to catch her breath, clutching at her chest which was now producing a steady blood flow.

"D-Damn...got to...keep...moving..." She coughed out.

She knew not how long she had been walking but her legs started to feel like led. The melting snow that was entering her footwear was nothing to laugh about and it froze her already numb skin. She walked onward, at some point discarding her broken armor, finding no more use for it. Eventually she reached a large door and pushed it open. Pain shot through her muscles and her injury, making her all but collapse when she entered the glade.

"I am...a mess..." She said, chuckling weakly. She stood herself upright and looked up. She gasped at what she saw.

The Pillars of Nosgoth. Pristine, whole, and uncorrupted. Snow clung to the crevices of the already pale white pillars. She could barely contain her elation at seeing a monument such as this.

"I...never thought...I would get to see this..." She gasped out. Holding her hand out, she made her way to the pillars. When she reached one, she touched it's cold marble surface. Circling the Balance Pillar, she ran her fingers over every crevice, reveling in it's texture.

"It's...so beautiful..."

Her hands started to shake and she felt herself collapse once more from exhaustion. She put her back to the back side of the pillar and slowly slide downwards into a sitting position. She watched as her ragged breath came out in tendrils, permeating the cool winter air. She looked at her hand, drawing it from her chest and noticed more fresh blood covering it. She stifled a sardonic chuckle and leaned her head against the pillar. She closed her eyes for a moment.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of a boot crunching in the snow and she sighed. Hoping the person just ignored her, she kept her eyes closed. She noticed the crunching sound getting closer and she tried to pretend she was invisible. As she heard the boots stop making the crunching sound and now made a clanking sound as if against marble and stone she gave up. The clanking sound got closer and closer until it went past her and stopped directly in front of her. She opened her blue eyes only to have her vision taken up by Raziel's face.

"Well now. I found the little raven who flew from the stronghold." He said, a hint of amusement in his voice. He held up the armor with the tattered Sarafan banners on it. "I found your wings my little raven."

Julia snorted, "Yeah, thanks."

He smirked, taking her chin in his hand. "Ah, so the little bird can speak too?"

She shook a bit, feeling like she was under the gaze of a deadly predator. She nodded at him.

He tilted his head at her, inspecting her. "How did a frail thing such as yourself get into the stronghold?"

She closed her eyes and gulped, her throat feeling dry. "I...I don't know."

Raziel raised one of his eyebrows. "Oh but surely you do. There is only one way into the stronghold, and that's through the front gate."

She sighed. "Well, I don't know what to..." She coughed. "...tell you. I passed out and when I woke up...there I was."

He let go of her chin. He scrutinized her with his blue eyes. "No matter...you have to come with me. I am taking you into custody."

When she heard him say that, a spark kindled within her and she tried to push him away. "No. Just leave me alone Raziel!"

He backed off, crossing his arms. "How is it that you know who I am? We have never met."

She grabbed onto the pillar and tried to pick herself back up. In a stroke of defiance, she stuck out her tongue at him.

"Now that's just immature..." He replied back to her, trying to grab her by the shoulders.

"I don't care..." She replied, backing away from him.

She tried to limp away from him, but was unsuccessful as he spun her around to face him.

"You are coming with me woman! Right now you are considered a criminal. If you don't come with me, there will be serious consequences!"

She huffed at him. "And why do you care you...you..." She pushed away and tried to walk away. He grabbed her wrist and she tried to yank it away. As she did this, she fell backwards and took him along with her. She landed on her back in the snow and the wind was knocked out of her. Opening her eyes, she saw Raziel hovering above her, a slight tinge of pink on his face.

"You are...quite quarrelsome woman!" He said, clearing his throat. His eyes darted around a bit, trying to assess the situation.

After a moment or two, he regained his composure and helped Julia to her feet. Even then she tried to resist.

"Please just let me go!" She said, trying to push him away from her once more.

He grabbed her wrists as she tried. "No. You are coming with me whether you like it or not."

She puffed out her cheeks in frustration. "You...you! Let me...go..."

She fell forward against him and he caught her. "Whoa there..." He studied her face and noticed she was unconscious, her face pale and her breath ragged. He sighed, picking her up bridal style and headed towards the stronghold.


End file.
